Footsteps in Faith

Chaplain (Maj.) Mike TurpinIntegrated Religious Support Office
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS — Do you ever find yourself between a rock and a hard place?

I was recently reminded of a situation in the Bible where Moses was leading God’s people out of slavery. As they began their journey, they quickly found themselves trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army.

The people that Moses was leading grew afraid and complained to Moses about bringing them out of Egypt and slavery. They wanted to go back and serve in bondage rather than die in the desert. They were afraid, and Moses and the people he was leading were between a “rock and a hard place.”

Tough choicesMoses had a choice. He could have joined with the people and complained against God for his situation. He could have went back to Pharaoh and asked him to be nice and allow the people to return to Egypt. Or, he could believe that God brought them to that place for a reason and trust the Lord for salvation.

Moses chose to believe that God brought him to that place and would continue to provide for his people. That night, God placed a pillar of smoke in front of Pharaoh’s army and opened up the sea for the people to escape.

God provided for his people.

Personal choicesIn counseling over the years, people often come to me with situations that seem like a rock and hard place. It can be a leader or peer at work that seems to not understand the situation. It can be marriages and the struggles of military life together with the difficulty of understanding one another and finding solutions. It can be physical or family issues that seem to have no resolution.

I would encourage you, today, to ask yourself, has God brought me into a difficult situation to teach me something? What am I supposed to learn? Ask yourself, how can I best trust the Lord and wait to see his salvation.